Amegadjie drafted in the third round by the Bears

By Jeff Vorva

Kiran Amegadjie

Kiran Amegadjie came to Hinsdale Central High School thinking his future was in basketball.

By sophomore year, however, he made a pivot with his career and started to play football, instead.

“He was late to the game, so he really didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year in high school,” Red Devils football coach Brian Griffin said. “He was into other sports. He played basketball and did other things, and I think a lot of people told him how big he was and that he should play football.”

So Amegadjie played football.
First for Hinsdale Central.
Then, for Yale.
Next up on his itinerary?

The 6-foot-5, 326-pound offensive lineman will be suiting up for the Chicago Bears.

Amegadjie was drafted in the third round in late April and found out the good news while he hosted more than 100 family members, friends, and Yale teammates at the Salt Creek Golf Club in Wood Dale.

While his selection didn’t cause a national splash as previous Bears picks Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze,  the people at his watch party went crazy when he received the phone call before it hit the TV screens.

“I get to be with the team that I loved since I was six years old.”

– Kiran Amegadjie on joining the Chicago Bears

“The place erupted,” Amegadjie said during a video news conference after the selection. “I had to go outside for about five or 10 minutes to clear my head.”
Yes, he grew up a Bears fan, and the enormity of the moment hit him while he was clearing his head.

“I was thinking about the years and years of work that got me to this point,” he said. “My dream is starting, and the real work is starting. I get to stay home, and I get to be with the team that I loved since I was six years old. I’m really excited.”

The first time Griffin saw Amegadjie on the football field, he was impressed with the kid’s size.
But the skills needed work.

However, having the size was half the battle.

“That’s the world we live in,” Griffin said. “How tall you are. What’s the wingspan? All of those things. Even when he was young, we talked about the fact that if he could put it all together and figure out how to play the game, he would have the metrics. A lot of kids have the mentality, but they don’t have the metrics. Those kids will never get to that place (the NFL). For him, it was kind of the flip. The metrics were there, we just need to figure out the mentality, and he has a chance to be really special.”

It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened quickly.

“It took a little while,” Griffin said. “With his inexperience, there is a learning curve for everything, and with a big kid, there is a lot to learn about your body, how to move and be physical, and all of that stuff. He learned quicker than most because he was more athletic than most kids. He quickly started to figure it out. By junior year, he was ready for varsity.”

While being a third-round pick is impressive, Amegadjie may have gone higher if he would have showed scouts a little more during the 2023 season. But he only played four games due to an injury and surgery.

The Athletic’s draft expert, Dane Brugler, said that despite missing time with the injury, Amegadjie was still an impressive player. “From a size and athletic standpoint, Amegadjie pops on film because of his rare length, light feet, and smooth body control,” Brugler said and added that Amegadjie is projected as a backup left tackle who could end up being a starter someday.

Amegadjie knows the road ahead of him will be tough.

“I think I’m a confident person,” he said. “I think I’m a great player, but I’m not a finished product. I’ll never be ashamed of that. Every day is a work ethic thing. It’s about getting better. My ceiling is extremely high. For me, it’s about what I can do every single day to achieve that.” ■

Kiran Amegadjie (right) played for Hinsdale Central and is now a member of the Chicago Bears.
Photo courtesy of Hinsdale Central

Kiran Amegadjie was drafted in the third round by the Bears, a team the Hinsdale native grew up cheering for.
Photo courtesy of Yale University